


It's You

by millsx



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Cute, Fluff, M/M, Marriage, Wedding, i hate tags idk man, larry - Freeform, larry stylinson - Freeform, proposal, proposing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-22 10:03:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22114249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/millsx/pseuds/millsx
Summary: The black velvet box has been burning a hole into Louis's pocket for months now. He knows Harry's going to say yes, it's not even a question. He’s okay. He can totally do this. Honestly, he shouldn’t even be worried. Louis knows Harry’s going to say yes. They’ve talked about getting married, buying a house and having kids bazillion of times, making up every last detail.He can’t do this. Not at all. The entire way through dinner, he’d been shaking and stumbling over words, which isn’t something that usually happens to Louis. His original plan was to do it the traditional way, in a restaurant after the main course but before dessert, but he couldn’t eat a thing through dinner. It wouldn’t feel right, going down on one knee, popping open the box and asking Harry the question. It should be easy, but right now Louis feels like he’s going to faint.So he doesn’t get down on one knee, doesn’t pop the box open and doesn’t ask Harry the question.Or the one where Louis tries to propose to Harry three different times and the one time he does (kind of).
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 1
Kudos: 46





	It's You

**Author's Note:**

> hi guys, I'm back with another short fic about Louis and Harry. This one has been stuck in my mind for days, and it only took me a couple hours to get it written. it's not beta-ed, so please forgive me for mistakes.   
> hope you'll enjoy it!   
> mills xx

Louis wouldn’t say he and Harry fight often. Not more than other couples. They fight about grocery shopping and doing the laundry and washing dishes, and they banter about how Louis has no clue how to cook a proper meal and about the fact that Harry folds his socks and irons the bedsheets. 

A couple times a year, when Louis is under a lot of stress, they fight about Louis’s smoking habit. He doesn’t like it either and he never does it excessively, but in those times, he can’t help it. It often feels like the only way out of a panic attack when walls start closing in om him. It’s not like Harry doesn’t understand, but he still hates it when Louis comes home smelling after smoke. And then they get into an argument, and sometimes they even yell at each other a little, but it’s never more than that. At the end of the day, one of them will apologize. It’s always like that. 

There is one thing they just can’t agree upon, though. The proposal question. In Louis’s humble opinion, he was first. First of all, he had the ring for an eternity, and second of all, he tried to do it three different times. Harry was merely… faster. 

**One**  
Louis sighs and pulls the small box out of the pocket of his jacket. The box is black and overcast with velvet, the ring itself is a silver signet ring, but without a symbol. Instead, Louis had the words _ab imo pectore_ engraved. It’s latin and means something like _from the bottom of my heart_ , even though neither of them actually knows any Latin. 

Once upon a time, shortly after Harry and Louis started dating, they made a habit out of looking up ridiculous latin quotes in order to make the other laugh. Harry always loved this particular quote, and it somehow stuck with them. 

“Lou, babe? Are you ready? We’re already kind of late”, Harry yells from the living room. 

Louis sighs for a second time, putting the box back into his jacket. 

“Coming”, he yells back and leaves the bathroom where he had hidden. 

He’s okay. He can totally do this. Honestly, he shouldn’t even be worried. Louis knows Harry’s going to say yes. They’ve talked about getting married, buying a house and having kids bazillion of times, making up every last detail. 

He can’t do this. Not at all. The entire way through dinner, he’d been shaking and stumbling over words, which isn’t something that usually happens to Louis. His original plan was to do it the traditional way, in a restaurant after the main course but before dessert, but he couldn’t eat a thing through dinner. It wouldn’t feel right, going down on one knee, popping open the box and asking Harry the question. It should be easy, but right now Louis feels like he’s going to faint. 

So he doesn’t get down on one knee, doesn’t pop the box open and doesn’t ask Harry the question. Instead, he takes Harry’s hand and grips it tightly. Harry looks up from the menu, a questioning look on his face, asking him _are you okay?_

“I love you”, Louis tells him in a quiet voice after swallowing the lump in his throat. 

“I know”, Harry smiles at him fondly. “I love you too”

At that, Louis decides that he can wait. He doesn’t need to rush into proposing to Harry. They love each other, and their entire life is still ahead of them. He can wait a couple more weeks, until he figured out the right way to do it. 

**Two**  
A couple of weeks turns into two months. Two months of hiding the box in an empty cereal carton in the back of their pantry. It was a carton of _Cookie Crisps_ , also known as the kind of cereal Harry always hated and scrunched his nose at when Louis pulled it out for breakfast. _Why would you eat that for breakfast? Tiny cookies don’t make a proper meal, Lou_ , he’d say. 

It took Louis those two weeks to come up with the perfect plan. He even asked Anne and Robin for approval. Louis knew that he didn’t actually have to, but he also had huge respect for Anne and Robin and loved them dearly, so he wanted them to know. Plus, Harry would absolutely dig it.

And now, on a relatively warm night in September, Louis is on his way to pick Harry up from work. He’s wearing black jeans and one of Harry’s sweaters, not wanting Harry to notice anything just yet. 

Louis’s timing is pretty perfect, he arrives right when Harry is walking out of the building his office. Louis rolls the window down and honks approximately ten times, watching Harry as he startles and then rolls his eyes when he notices Louis. 

“You know I hate you, right?”, Harry yells over the honking while he makes his way over to the car. 

“You could never hate me, Styles. Get in here”, Louis laughs, and Harry jogs the last meters and gets into the car. He’s wearing a grey coat over the green knitted sweater that always makes his eyes sparkle and ripped jeans.

“You’re right, I could never”, Harry says. Instead of buckling his seatbelt, he leans over and pulls Louis in with a hand in his neck. 

“Hi”, Louis says when they break apart. 

“Hi”, Harry answers and pecks his lips again. “What are you doing here?”

“Picking up my boyfriend from work, what else should I be doing here?”, he replies cheekily, leaning back and fastening his seatbelt again. 

“I don’t deserve you”, Harry smiles at him. 

_No, you deserve someone better. Someone who’s not scared shitless of proposing to you_ , Louis thinks to himself. 

“Fancy going on a date?”

It takes a little for them to get through traffic, it’s rush hour after all. While Louis maneuvers the car through honking busses and caps, Harry tells him about his day at work and taps his thumb on Louis’s leg to the beat of the songs playing through the speakers. 

“Okay, we’re here”, Louis says, putting the car into park. 

They’re a little outside of London, at Ruislip Lido. As they get out of the car and walk a little, Louis watches Harry’s face closely for a reaction. 

“Wait. Hold on. Is this-“ Harry stops mid-sentence, and then beams at Louis. 

“Yep, it is. I thought it’d be fun coming back here”

“Oh my God. This is amazing” Harry pulls Louis in, placing his hands on his waist. “I love you”

Louis smiles, and then leans in to kiss him. His nerves calm down a little at the feeling of Harry’s lips on his own. It’s only Harry. He’s going to be fine. 

Ruislip Lido is a lake right outside of London, and even though swimming is prohibited, there is a restaurant, and a shop, and booth where you can buy fish and chips. But the best part of it is the big ship on the playground, a life-sized pirate ship made out of wood. 

Four years ago, they stood on that particular ship ion a hot summer night. They’d spent all day at the lake, basking in the sun and taking dips into the lake when no one was watching. They had fish and chips for dinner, and when everyone else was gone, the went to the ship and talked. Louis doesn’t even remember about what. What he does remember is Harry whispering _Shit, I love you_ for the first time while Louis himself was rambling on about a movie he watched the week before. 

Out of tradition, they get fish and chips for dinner, and eat it sitting in the sand and looking out onto the lake. The water is black, and the wind is making the surface curl. 

Louis almost isn’t nervous, up until the point Harry gets up and runs toward the boat. Louis knows that as soon they’re on that playground, it’s now or never. In his head, he’s going through all the things he wants to tell Harry. Which is the reason he almost doesn’t notice Harry stumbling and then propping himself up on the wall of the boat. 

“Haz? You alright there?”, Louis asks, speeding up his steps to catch up with Harry. 

“’M fine, just… A little dizzy”, Harry replies. A split second later, he turns away and throws up. 

Immediately, Louis is by his side, one hand on his back. 

“Harry, babe. What’s going on?” The sorrow in Louis’s voice is clearly perceptible. 

“I don’t know, I don’t know”, Harry whispers.

“C’mon, let’s get you to the car, yeah?” 

In the bright light of the car, Louis notices how pale Harry looks, almost a little greenish. 

“I’m driving us to the hospital, you really don’t look good”, Louis then decides, ignoring Harry’s protests. 

“Harry, I love you, and I get that you just want to go home because you feel like shit. I’m worried sick, okay? And that’s why we’re going to the hospital” 

On the way, Louis has to pull over two times, and both times Harry opens the car door just in time to not puke in the car.

“Hi Anne, it’s me, Louis”

“Louis, honey, is everything okay? You sound upset” Anne’s voice is quiet, she’s probably already in bed. It’s midnight, and Louis wishes he was home too, in his and Harry’s bed with Harry by his side. 

“I’m at the hospital with Harry. He’s- I don’t know. They’re running some tests right now, it’s probably a stomach bug or something like that, I dunno” Louis suddenly feels very tired. This was supposed to go differently. Very much so. 

“At the hospital? What happened?” By the tone of her voice, Louis can tell that she’s just as worried as him. 

“We were on a date and suddenly Haz got dizzy and, like, _very_ pale, and started throwing up”, Louis tells her. 

“On a date? Did you want to…?” She doesn’t have to finish her sentence. 

“Yeah”, Louis sighs, “that was the plan”

“Oh honey, I’m so sorry” 

“It’s fine. I’m just really worried about him”, he says, almost inaudible. 

“I know you are. But you know Harry, he’s a tough one. He’s going to be just fine, yeah?” 

“Yeah. Hold on, I see Harry. I’ll let you know when we know what’s up, okay?” 

“Okay. Don’t take it too hard, honey”

“I won’t. Love you”   
It turned out that Harry ate something bad in his lunch break and got food poisoning. They kept him for observation over the night and after that, Harry stayed at home for the rest of the week until he was feeling better. Louis didn’t even look at the ring one more time. 

**Three**  
Two weeks later, it’s their anniversary. 28th September. Louis wakes up to a hundred butterfly kisses spread over his face, and as soon as he’s awake enough he pulls Harry in for a real kiss. 

“I love you, I love you, I love you”, he whispers between kisses and Harry smiles fondly at him. 

“I love you too. So much”, Harry says and kisses him again. 

Louis might have been a little late for work that day. But he doesn’t really care, though. 

“Sooo? Is today the day?”, Niall asks him during their lunch break. 

Louis told him all about the proposal-debacle, and how he even doubted whether he should do it at all after Harry had been admitted to the hospital. Niall knocked some sense into him, telling him to stop being a coward and a piece of shit. 

“If I don’t chicken out again, yes”, Louis sighs. 

As much as he loves Harry and wants to marry, him, he’s so sick of himself for not just asking him. He doubts that Harry would even care how he did it, he’d say yes any second. Which should make it easier for Louis, really. 

“You can do it, I know it. You love that boy so fucking much, and he knows that. And because he loves you just as much, you want it to be perfect. So that’s why you chicken out every time, because you pressure yourself too much. You could propose to him with a hair tie as a ring while you’re washing dishes and he’d says yes” 

“It’s stupid, I know”, Louis sighs. 

“It’s not. It’s disgustingly sweet”, Niall laughs and throws a piece of paprika from his salad at Louis. “Tell me your plan” 

And he does. Louis knows that Harry probably has something planned as well, he’s just like that and it’s their anniversary after all. Harry being Harry, he’s probably cooking something for them for dinner, and Louis plans on doing it just before they eat. 

“It’s not that special, and definitely not as special as Ruislip Lido, but it’d be really obvious to go there again. It’s a wonder he hasn’t noticed anything yet anyway” 

“It’s cute. And personal. And afterwards, you could always go to Ruislip Lido, you know”

When Louis gets home a few hours later, there’s a stray balloon in the stairway. Louis frowns at it and decides to ignore it. Their neighbors from 3b have two kids, it probably belongs to one of them. 

Their apartment is dark and quiet when Louis unlocks the door. Weird. Harry said he’d be home early today. Maybe he’s stuck in traffic, Louis thinks to himself as he puts his coat on a hanger and takes off his shoes. 

“Babe? Are you there?” No answer. Maybe he really is stuck in traffic. 

But when Louis enters their living room, there are candles lit and a dozen helium-filled balloons float in the air. Louis’s heart skips a beat. 

“Harry?”

There is still no answer, so Louis looks around for a little. At the end of every balloon-chord, there’s a picture tied to it. Pictures of them. Of their first date, of their first vacation together, of the day they moved into their apartment. Louis can’t help but smile, and he feels like he might never stop. 

Without noticing it, Louis has worked his way from the door of the living room to the other end of the room, where a big door leads to their bedroom and one made out of glass to their balcony. 

He opens it, because the fairy lights they put up during summer are lit and steps out into the cool air of the evening. Standing there is Harry, smiling a little nervously at him. 

“Hi”, Louis whispers, stunned. All this. For him. He doesn’t feel like he deserves that. 

“Hi”, Harry answers. Louis closes the gap between them with a few steps, grabs Harry be the side of the hood of his sweatshirt and pulls him in for a soft kiss. 

“What’s all this?”, Louis asks him quietly, heart beating so hard that he can feel every beat in his veins. 

“Right”, Harry clears his throat and takes a step back. “I wanted to ask you something” 

Louis notices that Harry’s hands are trembling a little. Some people wouldn’t even notice, but Louis does. He knows every inch of Harry’s body and the way he talks and acts is engraved in his brain. Without even noticing it, Louis takes one of Harry’s hand and squeezes it slightly. 

Harry chuckles a little.

“I had this whole speech planned out, and now I don’t remember half of it” He takes a shaky breath. 

“But the point is, Lou, I love you. You’re funny and intelligent and kind and so, so good. I can’t even put it in words. Every day that I wake up beside you, I thank my lucky stars that I’ve got you.

“You’re, like, the best thing that ever happened to me. You laugh about my jokes, even when they’re not funny and you always know exactly how I feel and what I need. I love you because we can get drunk together and because you always make two cups of tea, even when I say I don’t want one and I love you because you’re good with kids and because you can deal with my mum and my sister. I love you so much”

Harry swallows and takes something out of the back pocket of his jeans, and that’s when it dawns on Louis. 

Harry gets down on one knee. 

“Louis Tomlinson, will you marry me?”

At this point, Louis’s entire body is shaking. He feels like his knees are made out of jelly and might give out any second. 

“No!”

Harry’s face falls at that.

“N-no?”

“I mean, yes, but no. You can’t just do that!” Louis’s voice is shaky, and he knows he’s about to start crying. He loves his boy so much. 

“You’re not making any sense, Lou”, Harry tells him. 

Louis gets down on one knee as well, pulling out the box that’s been burning a hole in his pocket for months now. 

“Harry Styles, will you marry me?” Louis feels the first tear running down his cheek. 

He watches as Harry’s face changes from confused to shocked to soft and happy. 

“Yes. Yes, of course. Oh my God. I didn’t know you wanted to-“ Louis interrupts him by surging forward and kissing him. The kiss is far from perfect. They’re both laughing too much, and it’s too wet and their teeth clink together, but Louis thinks it might be the best kiss he ever had. 

They break apart, and Louis notices that Harry is teary-eyed as well. 

When they exchange their ring and put it on each other’s fingers, it already feels like they’re married. 

“I tried proposing to you two times already. But it never felt good enough”, Louis tells him. 

“It was perfect”, Harry answers, tears streaming down his face. “I love you so much” 

“I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you”, Louis whispers, and kisses him again.


End file.
